Well here it is--the finished (at least for now) room. We keep so much stuff in this room--stuff that probably shouldn't be there. But it is, so my goal was to find better ways to organize and store it. The only thing I purchased were the 3 brackets for the shelf above the washer and dryer ($7.50). Now mind you, I am a junker so I had plenty of a stash to dive into. The pieces I used I did buy at one point and time (still spending less than $40), but not recently and not for what they are being used for now.
This hall tree replaced the locker system I had. I bought it in June for $25. I have had it in my entry way, but it doesn't fit there and the front door hit it. It needs a paint job, but will do for now. The kids are allowed to put their backpacks and 1 coat on it only. The rest go in the closet. I also told them that not every hoodie that they owned needed to be in here, but could be hung up in their bedroom closets. The bench opens for more shoe storage. No one is allowed to sit anything on the bench, except their hinies--so far so good. Hubby's and my drill battery chargers sit on top--not a great place but better than on the washer where they used to sit. There is a plug in behind it.
The step ladder is a must have for watering plants I have up high and I have this one laundry basket (between the hall tree and step ladder) in there for dish towels and things--bought it a few years ago, a few dollars at a thrift store.
This wall has a few different storage ideas.
The shutter is a great place to hold all kinds of things, even CDs. Why do I have CDs in my laundry room? Who knows, but I did. I think they come in from cars, plus I listen to some of them in the summer in the garage while I work.
This little metal box I picked up at thrift store last year for $2. I think it was a dehydrator or??? It had the metal racks in it. I do need to buy a magnetic closure for it. I painted it and am using it to keep paint stuff in. I have bottles of paint in pretty much every room in my house. I keep my small paintbrushes in the long metal box.
The drawer boxes were given to me by a friend--she just stuck them in my car one day and told me later, "I put something in your car." One is holding all of the hooks I use for projects (there are more in the garage). Again, why do the hooks end up in the mudroom? Not sure but they were all over my dryer and in the cupboards, so now they are together. The other drawer is empty right now. I am sure that won't last too long.
I made this sign to balance the space out. My teenager said, "I think everyone knows it is the laundry room. You don't need a sign to tell them." Argh!
And here is my favorite reuse. I was going to build a cabinet to go above the sink, but instead used a nightstand that I bought for $2 or $3 last year. I had to add a top. I made this little curtain for it--might need to shorten it. I am going to buy a paper towel holder to mount underneath (at a thrift store), but for now used a ribbon tacked up to hold the paper towel.
Here is the before of the area above my sink.
I can't get the paint off without removing the wall paint so I came up with this solution for now--a painted cupboard door, well sealed for "washibility". I added hooks to it for drying paintbrushes (did you know you should dry paintbrushes with the bristles down?). It covers up some of the paint splashes. I also added a curtain under the sink to hide the watering can under there.
Again, I hope you found and idea that you can use. I might even like doing laundry now--or not!
I am sharing this on Do It Yourself day at Kimba's--where you can find over 200 great ideas in one place!